Any speculation concerning the postmortem mutilations of Djehutynakht's head must take into account the fact that they were systematic and deliberate. A number of observations provide unequivocal evidence of this fact. The remarkable symmetry of the mutilations is alone compelling evidence of their deliberate nature. The clean transection of each coronoid process was clearly made to mobilize this structure. Immediately behind this on either side are also irregular cuts into the anterior lips of the glenoid fossae, suggesting that, once the coronoid process had been transected, the cutting tool was driven further back along the same axis. Another striking finding is that, with the exception of the in-driven fragment of the left zygomatic body, all of the affected bones were completely removed bilaterally. This includes the anterior walls of the maxillary sinuses and contiguous inferior orbital rims, the right zygoma, both zygomatic arches, and the coronoid processes. This was all achieved leaving the overlying skin intact. The inescapable conclusion is that the entire process was performed transorally along a corridor created by the progressive anteroposterior removal of bone and related soft tissue back as far as the temporomandibular joints. These findings are incompatible with the suggestion that the observed mutilations were the result of incidental damage due to rough handling during embalming, "archeological excavation, transportation, robbery [or] plundering," all of which would have simply left randomly crushed skeletal elements in situ beneath the intact skin. Similarly the pristine state of the mummy wrappings precludes damage due to plundering. Although it is true that the embalmers of that time were quite skillful in the use of subcutaneous packing to restore a normal appearance to the deceased, it is difficult to imagine that they would have gratuitously removed extensive portions of the facial skeleton to correct the enormous deformity they had just created. This would be highly illogical because it is just these bones that are so important in determining an individual's normal facial appearance. There is also no precedent for the embalmers removing these structures for any other purpose. It is also not credible that simply forcing packing into the subcutaneous tissues would have caused extensive fracturing of the bone, much less its complete dissolution. Bilateral coronoid processes of the mandibles are deep structures in the masticator space, which do not significantly alter the facial appearance. That they have been resected bilaterally alludes to a deliberate act of a purposeful practitioner who was trying to accomplish something other than preserving or reconstructing the facial appearance. The compensatory nature of the wrapping and the osteotomy defects also lend evidence to the fact that the mutilations were done before the wrapping was applied to the mummified head. Even though the facial skeleton has been extensively modified, the external appearance of the mummy is remarkably symmetric. For example, the right zygoma has been completely resected, whereas that on the left has been dislocated and pushed into the maxillary sinus. Similarly the bilateral zygomaticotemporal arches have been resected. The corresponding depressions on the superficial surface have been expertly reconstructed by varying thicknesses of the linen and the intervening resin. If the sole aim was merely to preserve the facial appearance, why would one do such extensive mutilations and then reconstruct the defect caused by such an intervention? As the correspondents note, deliberate postmortem mutilations of the corpse are otherwise known. Perforation of the skull in various ways to remove the brain is, of course, the best example. Early in Egyptian history, there are also examples of dismemberment including decapitation of the corpse. The body parts were then reassembled within undisturbed mummy wrappings. To our knowledge however, there is no other example in the archeological record of the sort of deliberate mutilations we describe. The correspondents cite (their reference 2) an unpublished dissertation addressing the patterns of postmortem damage to mummified remains. It would be of interest for the investigator to re-examine the material for evidence of similar deliberate mutilations that might otherwise have been assumed to be the result of accidental damage. Especially relevant would be remains contemporary with or antedating Djehutynakht, in view of the changes to be expected in embalming procedures during the several thousand years of ancient Egyptian history. As the correspondents indicate, rigor mortis can persist up to several days. At this time, the jaw is rigidly closed so that only the cheeks can be retracted, and it is generally not possible to open the mouth to examine the oral cavity adequately. Another of the "basic principles of post mortem pathology" is that the onset of significant putrefaction of the corpse coincides with the end of rigor mortis. If the embalmers were compelled to mobilize the jaw before the body began to putrefy, they would have necessarily done so during the period of rigor mortis, regardless of the length of time that rigor mortis was present. The ancient Egyptians were remarkably pragmatic. One must assume that if they went to this considerable effort to systematically mutilate the facial skeleton in the manner we have observed, it must have served an important purpose in relationship to the funerary ritual and burial ceremonies. From a functional anatomic standpoint, the only unifying feature of these mutilations is that they serve to mobilize the lower jaw. This logically calls attention to a possible relationship with the Opening of the Mouth ritual. Reference to this ceremony is first documented in texts inscribed on the walls of the burial chamber in the pyramid of King Unas (ca 2375 BC). This complex and incompletely understood ritual continued to be one of the most important aspects of funerary cult throughout the long history of ancient Egypt. During that time, there were numerous modifications and additions. The use of diachronic evidence such as the Book of the Dead, which the correspondents cite, is of limited value for understanding the significance of the mutilations we describe, which were performed 500 years earlier than those writings. Although the actual performance of these mutilations was not a part of the ceremony itself, it did assure that the subsequent ritual would be effective in its purpose of "opening the mouth" of the deceased, who would be able to take sustenance and speak in the afterlife.


Reliability of power supply is related, among other factors, to the control and protection devices allocation in feeders of distribution systems. In this way, optimized allocation of sectionalizing switches and protection devices in strategic points of distribution circuits, improves the quality of power supply and the system reliability indices. In this work, it is presented a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model, with real and binary variables, for the sectionalizing switches and protection devices allocation problem, in strategic sectors, aimed at improving reliability indices, increasing the utilities billing and fulfilling exigencies of regulatory agencies for the power supply. Optimized allocation of protection devices and switches for restoration, allows that those faulted sectors of the system can be isolated and repaired, re-managing loads of the analyzed feeder into the set of neighbor feeders. Proposed solution technique is a genetic algorithm (GA) developed exploiting the physical characteristics of the problem. Results obtained through simulations for a real-life circuit, are presented.


The main theme of this thesis is the development of new rigorous
formalisms to describe the diffraction properties of multiply configured,
perfectly conducting, gratings with simple groove geometries. This class
of gratings is composed of singly or doubly periodic elements. The
formalisms are derived using modal techniques which are particularly
suited to solving the diffraction properties of these gratings.
Considerable attention is paid to the far infrared properties of the
gratings with the aim of describing their performance as interference
filters used in this wavelength range.
The thesis contains a general review of the previous contributions
to the theoretical study of diffraction gratings, including a review of
investigations which have been undertaken into the properties of far
infrared interferometers. This is followed by a discussion of a
formalism describing the diffraction properties of lossless dielectric
and finitely conducting gratings. This study represents one of the first
generalisations of a modal formalism to structures which are other
than perfectly conducting, and is a step towards the solution of the
diffraction properties of capacitive or finitely conducting inductive
grids.
The remainder of the thesis is concerned with perfectly conducting
gratings having basically rectangular geometries. The structures
considered are either singly periodic or doubly periodic. The double
periodicity results either directly from the geometry of the element (as
for example in the case of inductive grids) or is contrived by suitable
arrangement of singly periodic elements.
The performance of singly periodic interference filters, composed
of two or more lamellar gratings, is then described. The first such
structure to be considered is the double grating and the diffraction
properties of this arrangement are described in detail. The associated
analysis is performed by explicitly specifying the fields in each groove
region by a modal expansion. The geometry of the double grating is then
generalised to consider a grating composed of a stack of an arbitrary
number of singly periodic elements, and the properties of this structure
are analysed using a new rigorous multiple scattering technique.
These singly periodic gratings have application as Fabry-Perot
interferometers only for radiation having a particular linear polarization.
If the incident radiation is unpolarized it is necessary to use doubly
periodic devices such as inductive grids. For this reason the performance
of the double grid interferometer is considered, and a rigorous formalism
for it is derived using an approach similar to that used for the double
grating. The properties of multi-element grids are then analysed using a
multiple scattering approach.
Interesting conservation properties for lossless singly and doubly
periodic structures are presented and are related to the geometrical
symmetry of the structure. These relations provide constraints on the
scattering matrices of the diffraction system.
Finally, two formalisms are presented describing the diffraction
properties of a structure which is doubly periodic by virtue of the
positioning of its two singly periodic elements. This arrangement is
termed the crossed lamellar transmission grating. The first formalism
uses a modal expansion to describe the field within the grooves of each
element, while the second employs a rigorous multiple scattering approach.
In particular, it is demonstrated that this structure has application as a
solar heat mirror.


We examine corporate disclosure activity around seasoned equity offerings and its relation to stock prices. Beginning six months before the offering, our sample issuing firms dramatically increase their disclosure activity, particularly for the categories of disclosure over which firms have the most discretion. The increase is significant after controlling for the firm's current and future earnings performance and tends to be largest for firms with selling shareholders participating in the offering. However, there is no change in the frequency of forward-looking statements prior to the equity offering, something that is expressly discouraged by the securities law. Firms that maintain a consistent level of disclosure experience price increases prior to the offering and only minor price declines at the offering announcement relative to the control firms, suggesting that disclosure may have reduced the information asymmetry inherent in the offering. Firms that substantially increase their disclosure activity in the six months prior to the offering also experience price increases prior to the offering relative to the control firms, but suffer much larger price declines at the announcement of their intent to issue equity, suggesting that the disclosure increase may have been used to "hype the stock" and the market may have partially corrected for the earlier price increase. Firms that maintain a consistent disclosure level have no unusual return behavior relative to the control firms subsequent to the announcement, while the firms that "hyped" their stock continue to suffer negative returns, providing further evidence that the increased disclosure activity may have been "hype," and suggesting that the "hype" may have been successful in lowering the firms' cost of equity capital.


An anti-metastatic drug, NAMI-A ((ImH)[Ru(III) Cl4 (Im)(dmso)]; Im=imidazole, dmso=S-bound dimethylsulfoxide), and a cytotoxic drug, KP1019 ((IndH)[Ru(III) Cl4 (Ind)2 ]; Ind=indazole), are two Ru-based anticancer drugs in human clinical trials. Their reactivities under biologically relevant conditions, including aqueous buffers, protein solutions or gels (e.g, albumin, transferrin and collagen), undiluted blood serum, cell-culture medium and human liver (HepG2) cancer cells, were studied by Ru K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). These XAS data were fitted from linear combinations of spectra of well-characterised Ru compounds. The absence of XAS data from the parent drugs in these fits points to profound changes in the coordination environments of Ru(III) . The fits point to the presence of Ru(IV/III) clusters and binding of Ru(III) to S-donor groups, amine/imine and carboxylato groups of proteins. Cellular uptake of KP1019 is approximately 20-fold higher than that of NAMI-A under the same conditions, but it diminishes drastically after the decomposition of KP1019 in cell-culture media, which indicate that the parent complex is taken in by cells through passive diffusion.


Research on digital inequality tends to collapse people above a certain age into one "older adults" category, seemingly assuming that this is one homogeneous group when it comes to internet uses. Drawing on national survey data of adults in the United States, this article examines the online skills and behaviour of this group. Findings reveal diversity among older adults in internet skills and uses. Those with higher education and higher income have higher-level Web-use skills. While those of higher socioeconomic status are also more likely to use the internet for diverse types of activities from which they may benefit, once Controlling for skills, these differences are less pronounced.


Introduction . Nowadays, the increasing Internet influence on the personality and the ambiguous nature of this impact frequently result in such negative consequences as Internet addiction, reduced self-control, and dysregulation of the Internet-activity. Therefore, it is becoming more and more relevant to investigate the characteristics of personality regulation of students' network activity. The aim of the current research was to identify personality characteristics, which determine the network activity of students. Methodology and research methods . The current research is based on a subject-personal approach. The following methods were applied: Internet Behaviour Questionnaire (by A. E. Zhichkina); Self-Organisation Activities Questionnaire by E. Yu. Mandrikova (OSD); modified questionnaire (by O. N. Arezdova, L. N. Babanin, A. E. Voiskunsky); questionnaire "Attitudes towards the Internet" (by E. Gubenko); Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in the adaptation of O. L. Pisareva and A. Gritsenko; the technique of M. Kernis and A. Paradise "The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale" adapted by T. N. Savchenko, A. G. Faustova; personality questionnaire (TIPI-RU) (by A. S. Sergeeva, B. A. Kirillov, A. F. Dzhumagulova). Results and scientific novelty . For the first time, personality regulation of network activity is considered as a system of personality formation, which includes the following components in its structure: regulatory-behavioural, need-motivational, cognitive-emotional, and reflective-evaluative. General trends in the identified components and the connection of network behaviour strategies with personality characteristics of the student audience are determined. Students are characterised by an understanding of their own goals and their desire to achieve them, a tendency to be consistent and to follow the scheduled structure of the organisation of events, the manifestation of will to achieve goals and developed tactical planning skills. The Internet for students is above all a comfortable environment, where it is possible to feel calm and security, to expand social contacts, to find a new experience. Students are more likely to use effective strategies for cognitive emotion regulation, which are aimed at searching for the ways to overcome adverse situations, at recognising the positive significance of the event for personal growth, as well as at accepting the situation. Respondents' self-esteem is moderately reactive to the impact of situational factors. Students, who prefer network behaviour strategy "Activity in action", have a generally positive personality profile, they tend to choose favourable strategies of cognitive emotion regulation, and they have personality characteristics such as determination, perseverance, extroversion, openness to new experience. The personal characteristics of young people with the strategy "Activity in the perception of alternatives" and "Internet addiction" are represented by the choice of negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies, situational conditioning of self-attitude, and attitudes toward problematic Internet use. Practical significance . The research results can be used to improve distance learning programmes, additional education courses, as well as to increase the efficacy of regulation of student's network activity in order to prevent Internet addiction.


Mainstream press narratives identify homonegative behaviors occurring in men's ice hockey that may negatively impact gay and bisexual inclusion in the sport climate. The conceptual framework guiding this project draws from Messner's (2002) model of peer group relationships and principles of inclusive excellence ("AACU", 2018; Kauer & Krane, 2010). Messner's (2002) model describes the social dynamics of the male athlete group, explaining how relationships are influenced by the desire for approval and acceptance as well as the fear of isolation. Inclusive excellence (AACU, 2018) is a guiding philosophy designed to increase diversity, inclusion, and equity. Kauer and Krane (2010) apply inclusive excellence to sport, suggesting that coaches utilize teachable moments, create dialogue, and engage in proactive behaviors. The theoretical concepts that influence the experiences of gay and bisexual (GB) men in ice hockey are hegemonic masculinity (Allain, 2008; Pappas et al., 2004) and homonegativity (Anderson, 2002; Gregory, 2011; Messner, 1992). Homonegativity is used to support the hegemonic masculine hierarchy, which is further supported by, and supportive of the peer group relationship structure as described by Messner (2002). Peer group interactions strengthen and mirror the hierarchy of hegemonic masculinity, supporting the creation of a heteronormative sport climate by using homonegative language and behaviors. Motivation to retain group status regardless of questionable group member behavior (i.e., homonegativity) contributes to sustaining hegemonic masculinity. I offer four strategies to enhance GB inclusion in ice hockey: (a) change the climate of ice hockey by shifting value to traits associated with inclusive excellence, (b) reframing peer group relationships by changing the qualifying characteristics of leaders and empowering the marginalized, (c) offering emotional protection of teammates, and (d) addressing innate power imbalances by embracing individual responsibility to uphold equity. These suggestions are framed in inclusive excellence (AACU, 2018; Kauer & Krane, 2010) and are intended to guide coaches and sport psychology practitioners toward promoting a men's ice hockey culture that encourages GB inclusion by breaking from ideals associated with hegemonic masculinity and homonegativity, and by redefining peer group roles. REDUCING EFFECTS OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY 3


Early detection of cancer is key to reducing morbidity and mortality. Morphological and chemical biomarkers presage the transition from normal to cancerous tissue. We have developed a noninvasive imaging system incorporating optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) into a single optical system for the first time, in order to acquire both sets of biomarkers. OCT can provide morphological images of tissue with high resolution, while FLIM can provide biochemical tissue maps. Coregistered OCT volumes and FLIM images have been acquired simultaneously in an in vivo hamster cheek pouch model of oral cancer. The OCT images indicate morphological biomarkers for cancer including thickening of the epithelial layer and loss of the layered structure. The FLIM images indicate chemical biomarkers including increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and reduced collagen emission. While both sets of biomarkers can differentiate normal and cancerous tissue, we believe their combination will enable the discrimination of benign lesions possessing some of the indicated biomarkers, e.g., scarring or inflammation.


The explosive growth of Web-related services over the Internet is bringing millions of new users online, thus creating a growing demand for bandwidth. Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) networks, employing wavelength routing has emerged as the dominant technology to satisfy this growing demand for bandwidth. As the amount of traffic carried is larger, any single failure can be catastrophic. Survivability becomes indispensable in such networks. Therefore, it is imperative to design networks that can quickly and efficiently recover from failures.
In this dissertation, we explore the design and operation of survivable optical networks. We study several survivability paradigms for surviving single link failures. A restoration model is developed based on a combination of these paradigms. We propose an optimal design and upgrade scheme for WDM backbone networks. We formulate an integer programming-based design problem to minimize the total facility cost. This framework provides a cost effective way of upgrading the network by identifying how much resources to budget at each stage of network evolution. This results in significant cost reductions for the network service provider.
As part of network operation, we capture multiple operational phases in survivable network operation as a single integer programming formulation. This common framework incorporates service disruption and includes a service differentiation model based on lightpath protection. However, the complexity of the optimization problem makes the formulation applicable only for network provisioning and o2ine reconfiguration. The direct use of such methods for online reconfiguration remains limited to small networks with few tens of wavelengths. We develop a heuristic algorithm based on LP relaxation technique for fast, near optimal, online reconfiguration. Since the ILP variables are relaxed, we provide a way to derive a feasible solution from the relaxed problem. Most of the current approaches assume centralized information. They do not scale well as they rely on per-flow information. This motivates the need for developing dynamic algorithms based on partial information. The partial information we use can be easily obtained from traffic engineering extensions to routing protocols. Finally, the performance of partial information routing algorithms is compared through simulation studies.


An initial geochemical characterization of clayrocks is needed in order to evaluate their feasibility for use as caprocks or host formations for greenhouse gas storage or nuclear waste disposal facilities, respectively. In this context, a method was developed for the measurement of CO2 partial pressure in clayrock pore water. The PCO2 was systematically acquired using core samples obtained from underground laboratories located at 4 locations in Europe. The isotope ratios (C, O) of the gas and of the carbonate minerals were also obtained. The stable isotope ratios limit the possible origins of the CO2 to a thermodynamic equilibrium between aqueous solution species and the diagenetic carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite), and a Mg-aluminosilicate.


Propagation and radiation of electromagnetic waves in a lossless, reciprocal, chiral medium is studied in this thesis. Such a medium is described electromagnetically by the constitutive relations D = eE + iγB and H = iγE + (1/µ)B. The constants e, µ, γ are real and have values that are fixed by the size, shape, and the spatial distribution of the elements that collectively compose the medium. The plane wave propagation in an unbounded chiral medium is considered. The propagation constants are obtained and the polarization properties of electromagnetic waves in such a medium are discussed in detail. The problem of reflection from, and transmission through a semi-infinite chiral medium is solved by obtaining the Fresnel equations. The conditions for the total internal reflection of the incident wave from the interface, and the existance of the Brewster angle are obtained. The effects of the chirality on the polarization and intensity of the reflected wave from the chiral half-space are discussed and illustrated by employing the Stokes parameters. The propagation of electromagnetic waves through an infinite slab of chiral medium is formulated for oblique incidence and solved analytically for the case of normal incidence. The radiation emitted by an oscillating dipole in an unbounded, lossless, chiral medium is calculated. From the constitutive relations and from the time-harmonic Maxwell equations ∇ x E = iωB and ∇ x H = J - iωD, it is seen that the wave equation for such a medium is given by ∇ x ∇ x E - ω2µeE - 2ωµγ∇ x E = iωµJ where the source term J is the current density of the oscillating dipole and where E is the electric vector of the radiated field. The desired solution of this wave equation is found by the dyadic Green's function method, that is, by first constructing the dyadic Green's function Γ and then evaluating the expression E = iωµ∫Γ(r,r')•J(r')dV'. The dyadic Green's function Γ and the components of the radiated electric field E are obtained in closed form. The components of the radiated B, D, and H fields can be derived from knowledge of E by using the Maxwell equation B = (1/iω)∇ x E and the constitutive relations. The wave impedance of the medium and the radiation resistance of the dipole are also obtained. The effects of the chiral medium on the polarization and intensity of the dipole radiation are discussed.


The aim of this research is to develop glass ceramic produced from recycling glass. Waste glass (e.g. container and bottles) of soda lime silica (SLS) glasses is utilised as main raw materials for the formulation of glass ceramic batch composition with the addition of ball clay. The ball clay was added in order to favour shaping. The recycled glass powder are then mixed with the ball clay according to the ratio of SLSG to ball clay of 95:5 wt.%, 90:10 wt.% and 85:15 wt.%. Differential Thermal Analyses (DTA) was carried out in order to determine the thermal characteristic glass powder prior to the batch formulation. The glass was then crushed, milled and sieved to < 75µm and mixed with the ball clay before it was pressed to a pellet by pressure-less method. This pressure-less route is conducted as an approach to a simple fabrication route of the glass-ceramic samples. The green samples are then sintered at different temperature. The dense and strong glass ceramic samples were obtaining at 850oC, with holding time of one hour and morphological characterized with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses. Results shown that glass ceramic samples produced at this optimized sintering profile had high density and microhardness value with low porosity and negligible water absorption. Overall results indicates that glass ceramic samples have good mechanical properties (e.g. microhardness exceeding 700Hv) and physical properties (e.g. water absorption, density, porosity making them attractive to the structural application. These results are also utilised as a comparison to a glass ceramic samples produced via Cold Isostatic Press (CIP) from the same batch composition formulation and sintering profiles for the purpose of optimizing the waste glass utilization.


Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and severe flooding, pose a threat of increased skin and soft-tissue infections, especially in the event of open fractures and wading through the waters. The purpose of this case study is to present a complex patient sustaining trauma resulting in an open bimalleolar fracture, multiple wounds, and exposure to a variety of water-borne pathogens during Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, in 2017. He underwent multiple incision and drainage procedures, tissue cultures, and placement of antibiotic beads, with an application of external fixation to the left ankle. Several unique multidrug-resistant water-borne pathogens were identified, including Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas fluorescens/putida, and Serratia marcescens. Once the soft-tissue envelope was restored and infection cleared, a full-thickness rotational flap with tissue expansion was performed. Ultimate reconstruction was delayed several weeks and final left ankle open reduction and internal fixation was performed following antimicrobial treatment with split-thickness skin autograft and wound vacuum-assisted closure application. The patient was discharged after 28 days with no further complications. In instances such as these, all caretakers coming into contact with the patient should be aware of the potential risks of the possible infectious diseases and management to optimize the recovery following hydrologic disasters.


The transformer architecture and variants presented remarkable success across many machine learning tasks in recent years. This success is intrinsically related to the capability of handling long sequences and the presence of context-dependent weights from the attention mechanism. We argue that these capabilities suit the central role of a Meta-Reinforcement Learning algorithm. Indeed, a meta-RL agent needs to infer the task from a sequence of trajectories. Furthermore, it requires a fast adaptation strategy to adapt its policy for a new task -- which can be achieved using the self-attention mechanism. In this work, we present TrMRL (Transformers for Meta-Reinforcement Learning), a meta-RL agent that mimics the memory reinstatement mechanism using the transformer architecture. It associates the recent past of working memories to build an episodic memory recursively through the transformer layers. We show that the self-attention computes a consensus representation that minimizes the Bayes Risk at each layer and provides meaningful features to compute the best actions. We conducted experiments in high-dimensional continuous control environments for locomotion and dexterous manipulation. Results show that TrMRL presents comparable or superior asymptotic performance, sample efficiency, and out-of-distribution generalization compared to the baselines in these environments.


Knowledge on ecological requirements of species is a focal point for their conservation, especially if they live in threatened habitat types such as old‐growth forests. We predict that habitat requirements shape the spatial niche partition of two sibling species of saproxylic beetles Gnorimus nobilis and Gnorimus variabilis. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a comparative study on the presence and abundance of these chafer beetles in northern Apennines using air‐trapping, exploring the effects of altitude and habitat type. We performed our analyses in a study area of 268 800 ha, where we detected nine patches of putatively suitable habitat (13 347 ha), setting a total of 82 air‐traps. We collected an unexpected high number of specimens of both species, and found that G. nobilis and G. variabilis are rarely syntopic, having different ecological preferences influenced primarily by altitude, but also by forest type.


With the completion of this work is to study the impact of emotional intelligence and self-concept, being the sample size of 134 students. To measure emotional intelligence 24 and TMMS was used for self AF5 was used. The results released into the Cronbach's alpha show that all scales have adequate internal consistency. The data analysis showed that there is an influence of emotional intelligence on self-concept, emotional care being the dimension which has a higher weight. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Self-concept, Structural equations.


The article deals with the issues of technical and legal description and certification of cultural heritage sites of Ukraine, harmonization of the regulatory framework for establishing parameterized indicators of the registration card and passport of the cultural heritage site – these issues increase its relevance every year. Differentiation of responsibility for the preservation of cultural heritage between the branches of state institutions leads to the loss and decline of the restoration school and archaeological research.

The proposed approach of an expert combination of factors establishing the ownership of real estate to be recognized as objects of cultural heritage will allow, at the judicial level, to require the maintenance of these objects in proper technical condition from the owners of such real estate, to turn it into state property for the people of Ukraine. At the same time, digitalization, scanning, and the creation of digital twins of such objects will allow to qualitatively capture the historical links in the development of such objects and to study technological evolution using indirect examples.


The evidence-based science advice (ESA) effort of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences (CAS) since 23 years has been reviewed. The objective throughout has been to enable science influence policy/decision making at all levels – national, regional and global. The key partners of CAS included the United States National Academy of Sciences (USNAS), the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), the Royal Society of United Kingdom, as well as the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), the InterAcademy Partnership (Science, Health, Research), the Commonwealth Science Academies and the International Science Council. The mechanisms used included consensus studies, workshops, public lectures, participation in sectoral committees, summaries of key scientific publications and joint statements. Priorities handled through convening activities were triggered by policy/decision making sector requests or Academy foresights. The response/impact of the effort varied from media coverage through policy/programme change/orientation. The major challenges faced included insufficient financial/human resources, inadequate office space, and weak links with government. These challenges must be addressed to enable effective evidence-based science advice which is increasingly unavoidable for sustainable development. Keywords: Evidence-based science, advice, policy, decision-maker


In this paper, we present a novel method for scheduling smart appliances and batteries, in order to reduce both the electricity bill and the CO2 emissions. Mathematically, the scheduling problem is posed as a multi-objective Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP), which can be solved by using standard algorithms. A case study is performed to assess the performance of the proposed scheduling framework. Numerical results show that the new formulation can decrease both the CO2 emissions and the electricity bill. Furthermore, a survey of studies that deal with scheduling of smart appliances is provided. These papers use methods based on MILP, Dynamic Programming (DP), and Minimum Cut Algorithm (MCA) for solving the scheduling problem. We discuss their performance in terms of computation time and optimality versus time discretization and number of appliances.


UNLABELLED
The main causes of neurally mediated syncope (NMS) are carotid sinus syndrome (CSS) and vasovagal syncope. Long before, carotid sinus denervation was performed for different diseases, but for the first time we consider glomectomy (G) as a surgical treatment for NMS and related arrhythmias, alone or associated with cardiac pacing (PM).

METHODS
We used Nakayama's technique for bronchial asthma, modified by us: removal of hypersensitive carotid glomus and presinusal lymphadenectomy. Forty five patients (pts) with recurrent NMS (cardioinhibitory 14 pts, mixed 31 pts) were included: 41 males, 4 females, aged 23-84 (mean 60 yrs). The diagnosis was documented clinically by carotid sinus massage, ECG-Holter, electrophysiologic studies, head-up tilt test. Malignant orthostatic syndrome was present in 4 pts, tussive syncope in one, sick sinus syndrome (SSS) in 6 pts, atrial fibrillation and flutter in 6 pts, AV block in 2 pts. Thirty four pts underwent G alone; 6 pts-G and PM; 5 pts-PM alone, 3 pts-G plus carotid endarterectomy.

RESULTS
of G were excellent. All pts became free of syncope (max. follow-up 10 yrs). In addition, stable sinus rhythm was obtained in two pts (one with severe atrial fibrillation, another with persistent atrial fibrillation). In pts with SSS, A-V block or atrial fibrillation with bradycardia, PM was inserted (DDDR or VVIR). However, in pts with vasodepressor component of NMS, symptoms persist until G was performed.

CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that our data support the efficiency of G in pts with NMS (either cardioinhibitor or vasodepressor), as well as in related arrhythmias. PM is indicated in pts with associated diseases: intrinsic SSS, AV block, atrial fibrillation with bradycardia.


We report an effective technique for generating wavelength-tunable chirp-compensated single-mode pulses with a high sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) based on self-seeding a Fabry-Perot laser diode. This technique relies on the use of a tunable linearly-chirped fiber Bragg grating to provide wavelength-selective feedback, output filtering, and chirp compensation. With this technique, we have generated chirp-compensated picosecond pulses with a SMSR higher than 40 dB over a tuning range of 11.5 nm.


In Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells (a polarized epithelial cell line) infected with influenza virus, the hemagglutinin behaves as an apical plasma membrane glycoprotein. To determine biochemically the domain on the plasma membrane, apical or basolateral, where newly synthesized hemagglutinin first appears, cells were cultured on Millipore filters to make both cell surface domains independently accessible. Hemagglutinin in virus-infected cells was pulse-labeled, chased, and detected on the plasma membrane with a sensitive trypsin assay. Under all conditions tested, newly made hemagglutinin appeared simultaneously on both domains, with the bulk found in the apical membrane. When trypsin was continuously present on the basolateral surface during the chase, little hemagglutinin was cleaved relative to the amount transported apically. In addition, specific antibodies against the hemagglutinin placed basolaterally had no effect on transport to the apical domain. These observations suggested that most newly synthesized hemagglutinin does not transiently appear on the basolateral surface but rather is delivered directly to the apical surface in amounts that account for its final polarized distribution.


This book was awarded a Choice outstanding Academic Title and has received the Annual O. L. Davis, Jr. Outstanding Book Award from the AATC (American Association for Teaching and Curriculum) and the AESA (American Educational Studies Association) Critics Choice Award 2012. "Education and the Crisis of Public Values" examines American society's shift away from democratic public values, the ensuing move toward a market-driven mode of education, and the last decade's growing social disinvestment in youth. The book discusses the number of ways that the ideal of public education as a democratic public sphere has been under siege, including full-fledged attacks by corporate interests on public school teachers, schools of education, and teacher unions. It also reveals how a business culture cloaked in the guise of generosity and reform has supported a charter school movement that aims to dismantle public schools in favor of a corporate-friendly privatized system. The book encourages educators to become public intellectuals, willing to engage in creating a formative culture of learning that can nurture the ability to defend public and higher education as a general good - one crucial to sustaining a critical citizenry and a democratic society.


The nonprofit sector in the United States and in West Michigan is undergoing a monumental transformation as Baby Boomers pass on their wealth to next generations who will eventually become the driving force in philanthropic giving. It is critical, then, that nonprofit organizations begin to answer questions about these generations and their giving habits. What are the attitudes and desires of these generations as they relate to philanthropy? How will they give philanthropically and to what organizations? What, if anything, should nonprofit organizations do in order to engage these donors? This paper explores these questions, providing insights into the literature on the topic as well as anecdotal evidence about how West Michigan nonprofit organizations are addressing these issues drawn from a series of personal interviews. The introduction includes an overarching view of the transition that will take place in the near future and the paper goes on to discuss who these next generation donors are, their philanthropic identity, how they give, how organizations might engage them and finally recommendations for organizations on the best approaches to ensure their organizations are noticed by next generations and are able to continue to serve their communities in the future.


Commercial purity aluminium AA1050 and aluminium alloy AA6016 were accumulative roll bonded and subsequently friction stir welded. The microstructure of the conventional and ultrafine-grained materials produced by accumulative roll bonding is strongly affected by friction stir welding. The elongated ultrafine-grained microstructure of roll bonded sheets becomes coarser and equiaxed in the nugget region. Hydraulic bulge tests showed that higher burst pressure can be achieved for samples without friction stir welding than for the ones with friction stir welding. Localised deformation, crack initiation and propagation, as well as the final fracture occurred within the nugget. Friction stir welded AA1050 sheet showed similar achievable burst pressures and von Mises equivalent strains compared to the as-received conventionally grained sheets. On the other hand, significantly higher burst pressures and at the same time higher von Mises equivalent strains were observed for the friction stir welded ultrafine-grained material than for the friction stir welded conventionally grained material.


Inflammation is a major mediator of CKD progression and is partly driven by altered gut microbiome and intestinal barrier disruption, events which are caused by: urea influx in the intestine resulting in dominance of urease-possessing bacteria; disruption of epithelial barrier by urea-derived ammonia leading to endotoxemia and bacterial translocation; and restriction of potassium-rich fruits and vegetables which are common sources of fermentable fiber. Restriction of these foods leads to depletion of bacteria that convert indigestible carbohydrates to short chain fatty acids which are important nutrients for colonocytes and regulatory T lymphocytes. We hypothesized that a high resistant starch diet attenuates CKD progression. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a chow containing 0.7% adenine for 2 weeks to induce CKD. Rats were then fed diets supplemented with amylopectin (low-fiber control) or high fermentable fiber (amylose maize resistant starch, HAM-RS2) for 3 weeks. CKD rats consuming low fiber diet exhibited reduced creatinine clearance, interstitial fibrosis, inflammation, tubular damage, activation of NFkB, upregulation of pro-inflammatory, pro-oxidant, and pro-fibrotic molecules; impaired Nrf2 activity, down-regulation of antioxidant enzymes, and disruption of colonic epithelial tight junction. The high resistant starch diet significantly attenuated these abnormalities. Thus high resistant starch diet retards CKD progression and attenuates oxidative stress and inflammation in rats. Future studies are needed to explore the impact of HAM-RS2 in CKD patients.


The destruction, by explosion connected with the eruption of Tarawera, 10th June, 1886, of the world-renowned Terraces of Rotomahana invests with a melancholy interest the subject of this paper. A calamity so complete and overwhelming that not a vestige of these magnificent monuments of Nature's architecture remains to mark their site, has called forth expressions of sincere regret, not merely from the inhabitants of New Zealand, but also from every student of Nature's phenomena, every lover of the picturesque and beautiful, as well as from every casual visitor to this wonderful district. As the chief centre of attraction to tourists through the Hot-Lake district, the Terraces of Rotomahana have been frequently described. Poets, men of science, and historians have endeavoured to express in varied language the impressions which these unique structures have produced upon them, while painting and photography have made known to some extent their delicacy of colour and variety of form. Most of the writers have, however, admitted their inability to give, from a rapid survey of the whole, more than a brief and incomplete description. In fact nothing beyond a generalized or vague idea could be acquired, except by a prolonged residence on the spot, a close familiarity with the place in all its varying aspects, a continuous study of the marvellous range of phenomena, and an intimate acquaintance with and patient observation of their periodicity and more salient characteristics. The largest and most important structure, but lately so well known as the White Terrace, was of


Purpose This study aims at analysing the causal crowding-out effect of tobacco spending on intrahousehold budget share in Vietnam. Besides, we also examine the differences in expenditure patterns between tobacco spending households and non-spending households in Vietnam as well as determine the reason behind these differences. Methods We estimated a system of quadratic conditional Engel curve to determine intrahousehold resource allocation using the latest Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey data in 2016. In order to estimate the causal crowding-out effect of tobacco spending, GMM 3SLS method is used to simultaneously deal with heteroscedasticity and endogeneity problems. Results Although the Wald test results propose the difference in preferences between tobacco spending and non-spending households in Vietnam, once controlling for household characteristics, the results from GMM 3SLS method show that the differences are insignificant. Generally, the crowding-out effect of tobacco spending in Vietnamese households is modest because of the small share of tobacco in the total household expenditure. An increase in tobacco expenditure only leads to a fall in the budget shares of education. The crowding-out effect, however, mainly appears in the case of low-income households. Conclusions The reduction in education caused by tobacco consumption, particularly in low-income households, may extend inequality and thus prevent the socioeconomic development in Vietnam in the long term. Additionally, the tiny share of tobacco in household expenditure reveals that the price of tobacco products in Vietnam is extremely low, leading to high proportion of tobacco smokers. Government, therefore, should continuously increase the tobacco tax so that it could restrict the tobacco affordability.


In multi-cell communication, users close to the cell boundaries tend to suffer interferences from other-cell users. Other-Cell Interference (OCI) coming from neighbouring cells considerably degrades the overall performance of the system. In this paper, we propose a precoding scheme for the multi-user multi-input multi-output (MIMO) downlink based on the regularized channel inversion algorithm to mitigate the effect of OCI in multi-cell systems. The scheme is designed by taking into account the interference plus noise covariance matrix of each user at the transmitter and the use of an interference suppression filter at each receiver. Unlike traditional OCI-aware Block Diagonalization (BD) based algorithms that experience noise enhancement due to complete elimination of multi-user interference (MUI), this scheme suppresses the MUI while taking the OCI into consideration. Simulation results show that the sum-rate performance of the proposed scheme outperforms the OCI-aware BD algorithm for different OCI settings.


In 1957 Rein' and Walder2 described the first cases of systemic sclerosis (SS) after contact with organic solvents. An increasing number of cases have subsequently been reported, the most frequent involving aliphatic hydrocarbons (vinyl chloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene),3 and 20 cases related to aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene, white spirits and diesel).4 Aromatic amines (cyclohexylamine and, m-phenylenediamine) and formaldehyde derivates were involved in about 10 cases. Our 56 year old patient developed SS with skin, lung and pericardial involvement after intense and prolonged exposure to toluene (aromatic hydrocarbon), heptane (aliphatic hydrocarbon), dimethylbuthylphenyldiamine, (aromatic amine), and octhyphenol formaldehyde (formaldehyde derivate), cutaneously and by inhalation. Exposure to nonchlorinated hydrocarbon and sulphated substances was also assessed. For 23 years he had worked in the rubber transformation section of a tyre factory. Over


Communication is essential in software development, and even more in distributed settings. Communication activities need to be organized and coordinated to defend against the threat of productivity losses, increases in cognitive load, and stress among team members. With a plethora of communication channels that were identified by previous research in open-source projects, there is a need to explore organizational issues in how these communication channels are introduced, explained, and motivated for use among all project members. In this study, we wanted to understand which communication channels are used in GitHub projects and how they are presented to the GitHub project audience. We employed thematic analysis to analyze 151 artifacts in 90 GitHub projects. Our results revealed 32 unique communications channels that can be divided into nine different types. Projects mostly provide channels of different types, but for some types (e.g., chat) it is common to provide several channels. Maintainers are aware that channels have different properties and help the developers to decide which channel should be used in which case. However, this is not true for all projects, and often we have not found any explicit reasons why maintainers chose to provide one channel over another. Different channels can be used for different purposes and have different affordances, so maintainers have to decide wisely which channels they want to provide and make clear which channel should be used in which case. Otherwise, developers might feel overwhelmed of too many channels and information can get fragmented over multiple channels [31].


Wireless local-area networks (WLANs) based on IEEE 802.11 technology have been widely constructed for commercial benefit over the past few years. However, several issues remain to be concerned for large-scale deployment in corporate environments. Fundamental challenges of managing IEEE 802.11 based enterprise networks are how to enforce Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and how fairly to utilize the WLANs potential. In order to provide corporate networks with a scalability management solution, we have designed a differentiated service management system that enables service provision and obeys SLAs. As enterprises may be composed of a number of distinct hotspot networks, we extend our system to integrate the network resource allocation among different enterprise sites and effectively to reduce congestion among WLANs. The proposal integrates radio resource allocation and network equipments management with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). In this paper, we describe the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of our solution.


This book focuses on the socio-political environment that allows for the impactful work of NGOs through their proximity to local communities. The book showcases how this space has helped South African women's rights NGOs to bring about crucial legal reforms, which are quite relevant to women's lived realities. Recognising its limitations, the South African state encourages NGOs to work freely on the ground and with state institutions to ameliorate the conditions for women's rights. The outcome of this state–NGO dynamic can be seen in the numerous human rights gains achieved by NGOs in general, and by women's rights organisations specifically. In addition, vulnerable communities such as women living under customary law have a signii cantly better chance to access justice. The book then demonstrates the opposite scenario, using Egypt as a case study, where NGOs are viewed as a national threat, and consequently operate under restrictive rules.


The thermal resistance of a three-dimensional (3D) chip stack has been experimentally clarified by authors [1-6] and an additional cooling solution is strongly required to achieve various structures of 3D chip stacks. Especially, when a high heat dissipating chip is located as a bottom chip, cooling from the bottom side of chips (in other words, from the laminate (substrate) side) is identified to be very effective by authors [7]. For cooling from the bottom side of a laminate, reduction of the thermal resistance of a laminate is important, and the effect of high thermal conductivity insulator (dielectric) is simulated as a function of the thermal via density, and via-hole-fabrication capability in various maker's high thermal conductivity insulator is also discussed. Secondly, placing a graphite sheet in the joint (interconnection) layer between a bottom chip and a laminate is proposed. When a graphite sheet is directly connected to a lid (heat spreader), it is examined how much additional heat density is managed by this cooling structure. As another aspect, in order to effectively conduct the hot spot heat of a bottom chip to large area of a laminate and accommodate various thermal via locations, it is simulated how effectively the hot spot heat of a bottom chip is spread by placing a graphite sheet in the joint layer between a bottom chip and a laminate. For cooling from the bottom side of chips, it is essential to consider the trade-off among thermal, electrical and mechanical performance and it is also discussed.


This paper evaluates the usability, efficiency, and effectiveness of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) libraries' websites. For conducting the study, online survey and observation methods were found appropriate. Two different approaches were selected for online survey i.e. checklist/parameters and online automated tools. Study reveals that selected IIMs' libraries had useful websites but ignored the basic usability features and thus seem to be in primitive stage of website development. Most of the selected IIMs' libraries websites were very simple and had very basic and common usability features in terms of general information related to library, content writings, searching features, Web 2.0 applications, page size, page loading time etc. Enormous scope for improvement has been observed in selected IIMs' libraries websites. Findings of the study will help to improve upon the usability features of IIMs' libraries websites that will finally benefit the library users who are using library facilities and services remotely. Study will also help the webmasters to check their websites on timely basis to increase usability scores based on online usability tools. Keywords: Website usability, usability analysis, IIMs, library websites Cite this Article Nitesh Kumar Verma, Akhandanand Shukla. Usability Analysis of Indian Institutes of Management Libraries Websites: An Evaluative Study. Journal of Advancements in Library Sciences. 2018, 5(1): 23–32p.


For J.T. To die for the love of boys: What could be more beautiful? --Michel Foucault (1) Il m'aime signifie en clair: il accepte queje le capture, l'apprivoise, et le viole, et le tue, et l'enterre. --Tony Duvert (2) I. Introduction The contemporary history of gay sexuality--the full history--has not been written. Within it, increasingly attested to in various ways, appears an ideology of sexual freedom that has played a significant role in shaping, conditioning, controlling, and defining the sweep of gay sexuality, identity, and social life. This Article describes the ideology of sexual freedom, including its valorization of sexual violence, abuse, and injury, up to and including death, traces the ideology's implications for HIV/AIDS, and documents its actual operation in theorizing about sexuality by and among gay men in the "high" years of the epidemic. (3) After that, it examines some ways in which the ideology of sexual freedom has shaped some more recent debates about same-sex sex and its proper relation to law, proposing that in a number of ways this ideology has been sexuality's "tougher and truer law," (4) more important than the formal legal rules promulgated and enforced by the political State. In consequence, it is suggested, efforts to understand and address same-sex sexual violence and its consequences both for individuals and society, more generally, need to grapple with the ideology of sexual freedom directly--and not ignore it--if there is to be any realistic hope for the liberal State to satisfy its obligations to protect private individuals against interpersonal harms. Before coming to that, some preliminary facts that frame a puzzle. Since the earliest known days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, more than 555,000 men diagnosed with AIDS--many of them gay--were infected with HIV through sex with other men. (5) Also since the earliest known days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, legal rules, both criminal and civil, have been able to capture many forms of the sex-based transmission of HIV as an individual harm. (6) Nevertheless, the number of cases seeking legal redress for HIV-transmission by gay men against one another has remained very small, both in absolute and relative numbers. (7) Why? Why have gay men not regularly laid claim to what was done to them as an injury that the law's remedial harm provisions should recognize and address? From the top, some conventional explanations that might appear to solve the puzzle, in whole or in part. Comparisons to cross-sex transmissions aside, given the special meanings and experiences of HIV/AIDS to gay men, (8) in the early days of the epidemic, few gay men could say (and fewer say with certainty) what exact sexual event (or events) had, some time (often years) before, caused them to become infected with HIV. Transmission of the virus was commonly and practically thought to be a doer-less deed. Even in those instances in which a doer could be identified, he was regularly not seen as responsible for what he did. Nobody back then knew what he was doing, gay sex being generally seen, by gay men at least, as essentially consequence-free. (9) If anyone were to be legally liable for inflicting this injury, then practically anyone who was sexually active and versatile could be. It is, then, as Robin Hardy reports: I have chosen to think that Rollo is my murderer, but I attach no blame to him. I only love his memory more. Everyone was ignorant then. It was no fault of his. It could have just as easily been me, because I'm certain that in those years of ignorance, through no intention of my own, I was a bringer of disease to other men. (10) No doubt, countless other gay men, speaking for themselves, would agree. Or would have, had they lived. In the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, ignorance of HIV and its ordinary modes of transmission could thus supply a norm of blamelessness that defined gay life across the sexual and social board, accounting for why gay men did not tap into the legal system to name what was done to them as an injury inflicted on them by other gay men. …


Background The drive in policy and practice is to enable individuals to achieve their preferred place of care during their last days of life. A local NHS Trust implemented a pilot project to establish a Macmillan Discharge Facilitator Service that aimed to offer individuals at the end of their lives the choice to die at home or another preferred place of care. Although the routine clinical audit provided quantitative data regarding the use of the service and associated outcomes, little is known about the service in terms of its quality, scope and impact on service users and other stakeholders. Aims A qualitative evaluation was undertaken to explore stakeholders' views and perceptions concerning the Macmillan Discharge Facilitator Service. Methods After gaining ethical approval, semi-structured interviews were conducted with bereaved carers (n=5). A focus group and individual interviews were undertaken with Healthcare Professionals who had used the service since its inception (n= 5). We also conducted individual interviews with the Discharge Facilitator and Service Manager. Results Framework analysis revealed five key themes: achieving preferred place of care; the Discharge Facilitator Service as the "conduit" between hospital and community settings; the personal attributes of the Discharge Facilitator; delays in hospital discharge; and, stakeholders' perceptions of the way forward for the service. Bereaved carers reported that the Discharge Facilitator helped to facilitate choice through the exploration of the patient's wishes, advocacy and the coordination of seamless discharge across care delivery settings. Conclusions Stakeholders reported that the Discharge Facilitator acted as a reliable resource and support in order to facilitate fast tracking for patients at the end of life. Recommendations for future service development were suggested by all stakeholders; these included: increased profile of the service, expansion of service provision, further development of education opportunities, and the Discharge Facilitator's earlier involvement in the discharge process.


In this paper I argue that the Real Bills Doctrine has been wrongly discredited, and that it ought to displace the Quantity Theory as the dominant theory of money. The discussion begins with the observation that the issue of backed money will not be inflationary as long as central banks follow the real-bills rule of only issuing money to those customers who offer good security in exchange. I then contend that modern paper currencies, which we normally think of as unbacked fiat money, may be (and probably are) backed. If correct, this would imply that the Real Bills Doctrine, and not the Quantity Theory, is a correct model of the value of modern money. The paper concludes by discussing a few controversies in the history of the Real Bills Doctrine, and shows that the major arguments responsible for the defeat of the Real Bills Doctrine contain obvious and serious errors.


Abstract. Runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has increased in recent years due largely to changes in atmospheric circulation and atmospheric warming. Albedo reductions resulting from these changes have amplified surface melting. Some of the largest declines in GrIS albedo have occurred in the ablation zone of the south-west sector and are associated with the development of dark ice surfaces. Field observations at local scales reveal that a variety of light-absorbing impurities (LAIs) can be present on the surface, ranging from inorganic particulates to cryoconite materials and ice algae. Meanwhile, satellite observations show that the areal extent of dark ice has varied significantly between recent successive melt seasons. However, the processes that drive such large interannual variability in dark ice extent remain essentially unconstrained. At present we are therefore unable to project how the albedo of bare ice sectors of the GrIS will evolve in the future, causing uncertainty in the projected sea level contribution from the GrIS over the coming decades. Here we use MODIS satellite imagery to examine dark ice dynamics on the south-west GrIS each year from 2000 to 2016. We quantify dark ice in terms of its annual extent, duration, intensity and timing of first appearance. Not only does dark ice extent vary significantly between years but so too does its duration (from 0 to > 80 % of June–July–August, JJA), intensity and the timing of its first appearance. Comparison of dark ice dynamics with potential meteorological drivers from the regional climate model MAR reveals that the JJA sensible heat flux, the number of positive minimum-air-temperature days and the timing of bare ice appearance are significant interannual synoptic controls. We use these findings to identify the surface processes which are most likely to explain recent dark ice dynamics. We suggest that whilst the spatial distribution of dark ice is best explained by outcropping of particulates from ablating ice, these particulates alone do not drive dark ice dynamics. Instead, they may enable the growth of pigmented ice algal assemblages which cause visible surface darkening, but only when the climatological prerequisites of liquid meltwater presence and sufficient photosynthetically active radiation fluxes are met. Further field studies are required to fully constrain the processes by which ice algae growth proceeds and the apparent dependency of algae growth on melt-out particulates.


Attempts at interface agent personalization are usually aimed at helping the user perform a task or service. For example,scheduling of appointments, inspection of messages, discovering items of interest and different forms of negotiation. While this is very noble undertaking, it makes assumptions about the level of trust and credibility a user may place in such an agent in a realworld setting. If Microsoft's experiments in social user interfaces teach us anything, it is that a ''one size fits all'' solution does not truly engage the user and encourage reuse. This ''relationship management'' between the user and the character begins when the two first meet. As with human-human relationships, first impressions are essential. Instead of looking at the functional aspects of the relationship, we believe the characters embodiment is the best place to start the personalization process. We describe a study in which participants from several different age ranges,genders and ethnic groups were asked their preference of anthropomorphic character, based on a cooperative computer task. We found that participants generally selected characters from the same ethic group as themselves and that almost all participants selected a young character (instead of a middle aged or elderly character). No significant preference was foundmore » for character gender.« less


The Taiwan mountain belt is the result of an arc-continent collision following the total subduction of the South China Sea and subsequent closure of the Luzon forearc, a process important in the accretionary growth of continents. Due to the oblique convergence, the southern tip of Taiwan Island is experiencing incipient collision, which is key to observing the oceanic-continental subduction transition. Within the monotonous turbidite extensively exposed on the Hengchun Peninsula as an uplifted Manila Trench accretionary wedge, the Shihmen Conglomerate, as a few intercalated lenses of coarse mafic pebbles, represents a dramatic change in sediment provenance and the causal tectonic event. New zircon U-Pb and amphibole 40Ar/39Ar ages are obtained from sediments, including sands and mafic pebbles that are either gabbro or foliated amphibolite. The 22–24 Ma zircon crystallization ages confirm the South China Sea origin of the mafic clasts, while the much younger 13 ± 2 Ma amphibole 40Ar/39Ar isochron ages from foliated amphibolites suggest a later thermal-tectonic event other than seafloor metamorphism. The amphibole 40Ar/39Ar ages overlap with the biostratigraphic age (∼11–14 Ma), indicating that the mafic source rocks were exhumed and eroded in a high-relief topography immediately after metamorphism. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages from a sandy layer within the conglomerate are also mostly identical to those from the mafic pebbles. Since the paleocurrent of the Shihmen Conglomerate was similar to that of the neighboring turbidites, which were derived from major rivers draining the southeastern Chinese continent, the provenance of the mafic pebbles and sands was best explained as an isolated subaerial mountain on the Eurasian continental margin with a very limited temporal and spatial extent, as the detrital products are poorly distributed. The most likely cause of the ephemeral mountain was the obduction of the South China Sea onto the Eurasian continental margin when the latter first impinged on the Philippine Sea Plate at the Manila Trench, where the gabbroic oceanic crust was uplifted and exhumed, followed by dynamic metamorphism along the basal thrust.


Trace organic compounds (TOrCs) have been detected in drinking water sources for several years, raising concerns due to their potential risks to public health. The main contributor of TOrCs to drinking water is through wastewater discharges. However, there are several hundred TOrCs currently known with numerous new organic chemicals being released daily, making it unfeasible to monitor each one in water. This study used a detailed literature review and scoring system to establish a list of twenty priority indicator TOrCs in US wastewaters. Next, a rapid direct injection LC-MS/MS method for analysis of these compounds was developed without the need for an extraction step and only 80 μL sample volume while providing method reporting limits of 3–39 ng L−1 for all but one TOrC (sucralose: 302 ng L−1). The elimination of an extraction step reduced matrix effects considerably making the method suitable for wastewater analysis. Method validation including matrix spike recoveries, linearity of calibration curve and inter- and intra-day variability was successfully performed. Finally, the twenty indicator TOrCs were evaluated in four different wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents through four sample campaigns spread across a year. The occurrence data indicated that all indicator TOrCs were detected in at least three out of the four WWTP effluents. Sucralose, iohexol, TCPP, acesulfame and gemfibrozil were detected in all samples at the four WWTPs indicating they could be used as indicators of wastewater influence in receiving waters. DEET, caffeine, triclosan, iopromide and others are effective indicators at showing seasonal variations, treatment process efficacy, and consumption patterns. Overall, the impact of this study will help develop more effective monitoring programs for TOrCs in water reuse schemes.


Summary Sister chromatid tethering is maintained by cohesin complexes that minimally contain Smc1, Smc3, Mcd1 and Scc3. During S-phase, chromatin-associated cohesins are modified by the Eco1/Ctf7 family of acetyltransferases. Eco1 proteins function during S phase in the context of replicated sister chromatids to convert chromatin-bound cohesins to a tethering-competent state, but also during G2 and M phases in response to double-stranded breaks to promote error-free DNA repair. Cohesins regulate transcription and are essential for ribosome biogenesis and complete chromosome condensation. Little is known, however, regarding the mechanisms through which cohesin functions are directed. Recent findings reveal that Eco1-mediated acetylation of different lysine residues in Smc3 during S phase promote either cohesion or condensation. Phosphorylation and SUMOylation additionally impact cohesin functions. Here, we posit the existence of a cohesin code, analogous to the histone code introduced over a decade ago, and speculate that there is a symphony of post-translational modifications that direct cohesins to function across a myriad of cellular processes. We also discuss evidence that outdate the notion that cohesion defects are singularly responsible for cohesion-mutant-cell inviability. We conclude by proposing that cohesion establishment is linked to chromatin formation.


Past climate oscillations have led to the presence or absence of sea ice in the North Pacific Ocean, which in turn has driven changes in community compositions. Marine diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) are unicellular, siliceous organisms that can respond sensitively to environmental change such as sea surface temperatures. Moreover, they are the dominant group of sympagic microalgae in the Arctic with a few species producing the sea ice proxy IP25 – a highly branched isoprenoid with 25 carbon atoms. So far, marine diatom records have been mainly analysed by microscopic observations, while only a handful of studies attempted a paleogenetic diagnostic. Here, we present an 18,000 year record based on ancient sedimentary DNA metabarcoding of diatoms for the Northwest Pacific Ocean and tackle the question if this approach is suitable as a new proxy for sea ice reconstructions. Our study site is located near the coast of Kronotsky Peninsula (Kamchatka). We collected 54 marine sediment samples from the 9.05 m long core SO201-2-12KL, which was taken at 2173 m water depth (N 53.992660, E 162.375830) and covers the time period since the deglaciation after the Last Glacial Maximum. In this core IP25 was previously detected in time slices representing Heinrich event 1 (15.1 ka BP) and Younger Dryas (12.2 ka BP). Since chloroplast DNA is present in several copy numbers in diatoms the probability of its long-term preservation in marine sediments is very likely. Therefore, we applied a short metabarcode of the chloroplast rbcL gene (76 bp), which was amplified for each sample three times independently. Subsequent PCR products were prepared for high-throughput sequencing. In a pre-study with a subset of only 12 sediment core samples all four classes of diatoms were detected, expectably centric diatom genera like Porosira, Chaetoceros and Thalassiosira dominated the dataset. Genera containing ice-associated diatoms, such as Melosira, Rhizosolenia, Navicula or Haslea were recovered, but sparsely. Based on our preliminary results, we await high quality data for the larger data set. By now, our study demonstrated that DNA metabarcoding of marine diatoms has the potential to support and complement the analysis of long-term developments of community composition and diversity changes, e.g. in areas of low diatom preservation due to silica dissolution.


Increasing food production and improving their quality is one of the main problems facing the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine in modern conditions. The solution of this problem is impossible only by increasing the production of livestock products, although this is the main source of their receipt. It is necessary to use additional, non-traditional types of raw materials containing full proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and other biologically active substances necessary for the human body. One of these sources may be meat of food types of snails. It maintains a complex of replaceable and essential amino acids, vitamins, inorganic elements, carbohydrates and fats. The purpose of our work was to determine the content of fatty acids in cooked meat of the food species Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa maxima and Helix aspersa muller. This article presents the results of the content of fatty acids in meat of food snails using the method of gas chromatography. The presence and quantity of fatty acids is determined in three types of snails. In general, the meat of snails contains both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The composition of saturated fatty acids includes – kapron, palmithin, stearin, myristic, arachin, capryl, laurin, begen, kaprin, heptadecanova. From unsaturated fatty acids, snail meat contains omega-3, omega-6, oleinic, palmitoleic, linoleic, arachidonic, linolenic, cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic, cis-11,14-eicosadenic, cis-13,16-doceta-adenoic, docosapentaenoic. As a result of our research on the content of fatty acids in cooked meat of snails, we found that the mass fraction of 11 unsaturated fatty acids – oleinic, palmitoleic, linoleic, omega-3, omega-6, arachidonic, linolenic, cis-5,8,11, 14,17-eicosapentaenoic, cis-11,14-eicosadenic, cis-13,16-doceta-adenoic, docosapentaenoic to a mass fraction of 10 saturated fatty acids is significantly different in each type of snail. Thus, the mass fraction of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids is in the meat of Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa maxima, Helix aspersa muller 1:5.73; 1:5.05 and 1:4.81 respectively. Most of all, unsaturated fatty acids are found in boiled meat of Helix pomatia snails and amount to 126.77% to the sum of fatty acids, and saturated – in the boiled meat of Helix aspersa muller snails – 24.86% to the sum of fatty acids. Useful and well-known all fatty acids ω-3 and ω-6 enriched boiled meat of Helix aspersa maxima snails – 49.06% to the sum of fatty acids, while Helix pomatia and Helix aspersa muller are 48.81 and 44.35% to the amount of fatty acids, respectively. It should be noted that the total content of fatty acids in the meat of snails varies in the following limits: Helix pomatia snails 148.89, Helix aspersa maxima 149.11, and Helix aspersa muller 144.4. Thus it can be argued that in the boiled meat of the three types of snails we studied, which is Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa maxima and Helix aspersa muller can be used as a valuable source of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.


A method was developed for maintaining isolated rat adipocytes in primary culture in a viable state for several days. Using this method, the kinetics of insulin receptor biosynthesis and membrane incorporation were assessed by inactivating (>95%) cell-surface insulin receptors with trypsin and then incubating cells in medium at 37°C for various times up to 44 h. The insertion of nascent receptors, into the plasma membrane was monitored by measuring the recovery of specific 125l-insulin binding activity. After trypsinization, insulin binding activity recovered at a linear rate with half of the original cell-surface receptor complement replenished by 24 h (6000 receptors or 2% of total surface receptors/h). This recovery was most probably mediated by de novo receptor synthesis, since no recovery of specific insulin binding was seen when cells were pretreated with cycloheximide for 3 h. Under conditions where protein synthesis was blocked immediately after trypsinization, however, a lag of 2–3 h was observed before receptor incorporation was inhibited. This lag suggests that insulin receptors are processed and routed within the cell for 2–3 h before being inserted into the plasma membrane. In support of this hypothesis it was found that the intracellular pool of insulin receptors (10% of the total receptor complement) could be depleted by about 80% by treating cells with cycloheximide for 3 h. Thus, it appears that most, if not the entire, intracellular receptor pool in adipocytes consists of newly synthesized receptors en route to the cell surface. Insulin, after binding to cell-surface receptors, triggers various biologic actions in adipocytes such as glucose transport and endocytosis of insulin-receptor complexes. To determine whether nascent receptors are functional immediately on insertion, we compared the recovery of insulin binding activity after trypsinization with the ability of these cells to respond to insulin with an increase in glucose uptake and an augmented rate of insulin internalization. These data revealed a high correlation between recovery of binding and biologic responsiveness. Thus, these data indicate that immediately upon insertion, or shortly thereafter, receptors become functional and are able to mediate the biologic actions of insulin.


Massive somatic mutations discovered by large cancer genome sequencing projects provide unprecedented opportunities in the development of precision oncology. However, deep understanding of functional consequences of somatic mutations and identifying actionable mutations and the related drug responses currently remain formidable challenges. Dysfunction of protein posttranslational modification plays critical roles in tumorigenesis and drug responses. In this study, we proposed a novel computational oncoproteomics approach, named kinome-wide network module for cancer pharmacogenomics (KNMPx), for identifying actionable mutations that rewired signaling networks and further characterized tumorigenesis and anticancer drug responses. Specifically, we integrated 746,631 missense mutations in 4,997 tumor samples across 16 major cancer types/subtypes from The Cancer Genome Atlas into over 170,000 carefully curated nonredundant phosphorylation sites covering 18,610 proteins. We found 47 mutated proteins (e.g., ERBB2, TP53, and CTNNB1) that had enriched missense mutations at their phosphorylation sites in pan-cancer analysis. In addition, tissue-specific kinase-substrate interaction modules altered by somatic mutations identified by KNMPx were significantly associated with patient survival. We further reported a kinome-wide landscape of pharmacogenomic interactions by incorporating somatic mutation-rewired signaling networks in 1,001 cancer cell lines via KNMPx. Interestingly, we found that cell lines could highly reproduce oncogenic phosphorylation site mutations identified in primary tumors, supporting the confidence in their associations with sensitivity/resistance of inhibitors targeting EGF, MAPK, PI3K, mTOR, and Wnt signaling pathways. In summary, our KNMPx approach is powerful for identifying oncogenic alterations via rewiring phosphorylation-related signaling networks and drug sensitivity/resistance in the era of precision oncology. Cancer Res; 77(11); 2810-21. ©2017 AACR.


City roads are playing vital roles in the economic development. And both highway roadbeds take place geological disasters frequently. This article evaluates geological disasters with the method of AHP. The indexes include lithology, geological structure, slope, high slope, slope structure types, groundwater, slope size, rainfall, river erosion, slope back excavation, earthquake, etc. Through the analysis of the formation mechanism and impact factors in landslide, the model of landslide hazard assessment is established. Then landslide risk factors are partitioned into different levels, and seven part of geological disasters area are calculated. At last determine the risk level of landslide areas comparing with the risk classification table.


Because of their cosmological origin, gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical afterglows are attenuated when they pass intergalactic absorbers in the GRB line-of-sight. Without the knowledge of the number of absorbers and their physical properties, the effect of absorption on the observed magnitudes can not be determined precisely. Different methods have been applied in order to correct for this effect statistically, either using semi-analytical calculations or numerical simulations. We follow these works and present the expected magnitude corrections as a function of redshift for a set of filters most commonly used in the scientific community. The results are publically available on the web (http://igmac.fmf.uni-lj.si).


Tumor motion induced by patient breathing decreases the effectiveness of radiation treatment. Image guided radiation treatment (IGRT) is an advanced approach for cancer radiation treatment. The success of IGRT is largely dependent on the accurate localization of tumor in real-time. There are two major imaging approaches currently in use to localize a tumor: internal imaging and external imaging. Internal imaging determines the tumor locations by directly x-ray of the tumor area. It is accurate however radiation dose is a big concern. External imaging derives the internal tumor locations through an external mark on the patient surface. It is radiation dose free however the insufficient accuracy limits its wide application. Integrating the internal and external signals together is necessary for reliable radiation treatment and acceptable patient radiation exposure. Our work tries to identify the correlation patterns between internal/external signals and the influential factors so that the hybrid signal will give desire accuracy in dose delivery while limiting radiation exposure to the patients. Both theoretical simulation based on sinusoidal functions and statistical analysis on real patient data are performed. The sinusoidal simulation will identify the potential influence factors of different correlation conditions. The results have demonstrated the various correlation patterns with amplitude various, frequency changes (duration changes), phase shifts, and baseline drift. The results will aid the statistical analytical on real-patients to identify the dominant factors of the internal/external motion signals for a specific patients. The described work is very useful in advanced IGRT to update the internal/external correlation in real-time for better cancer patient care.


By using the methods of operator theory, all solvable extensions of minimal operator generated by first order pantograph-type delay differential-operator expression in the Hilbert space of vector-functions on finite interval have been considered. As a result, the exact formula for the spectrums of these extensions is presented. Applications of obtained results to the concrete models are illustrated.


The capabilities needed in an Ada debugger are discussed in light of the language's tasking constructs, and the design for a debugger is presented which operates in concert with a single-processor Ada interpreter. This debugger design demonstrates the extensions to sequential debugging techniques that are necessary to handle concurrency, and shows that significant debugging functionality can be provided even without the inclusion of automatic error diagnosis methods. The issues considered include isolation of effects and display of the full dynamic execution status, both of which are essential to diagnosis of concurrent programs. >


Commercial hunting for the 20th century international fur trade was responsible for the collapse of giant otter populations throughout Amazonia. Some thirty years after the wildlife trade was outlawed, giant otter populations have begun to show signs of recovery. The Baniwa indigenous people from the Upper Rio Negro region of Brazil have witnessed the recovery of otter populations in areas where they had been wiped out by hunting. To evaluate the giant otter recovery process, we identified local and landscape variables contributing to the reestablishment of the species throughout Baniwa territory. We conducted transect sampling in lakes and streams in search of direct and indirect signs of giant otter occurrence. During surveys, we recorded three local variables, and through radar and satellite image, obtained six landscape variables in buffers of 250m, 500m and 1000m. Using generalized linear models we identified the 250m buffer as the most suitable scale within which to study giant otter habitat use. Connectivity between shallow and elongated waterbodies were the most reliable landscape indicators of otter population presence on the middle Içana River. Our results highlight the importance of small and connected water bodies to species recovery, a fact that should be taken into consideration in the creation of protected areas and local resource management plans. With this study we hope to contribute to the advancement of giant otter conservation strategies, as well as to an increased role for indigenous people in managing their territory and resources towards more effective biodiversity conservation.


Much of the debate surrounding the scholarship of music-based youth cultures has been organised around an epistemological assumption that focuses upon the discursive and representational value of cultural practices and artefacts. As such, contemporary writers are widely polarised on the issue of the degree to which young people commit to the cultural meanings that are attached to such performance, and divided on questions about how such meaning is manufactured in the first place. But understanding cultural performance as a solely symbolic undertaking is not only methodologically problematic; it marginalises the felt and affective experiences of participants and misses the significance of the shifting limitations and potentialities that define subcultural bodies. Contra all of this, and drawing on interviews with participants of the hardcore music scene on Australia's Gold Coast, this article instead seeks to position 'subcultural' attachment as an embodied process of becoming, where perceptions of 'authenticity' are grounded in the ongoing enactment of incorporated practical (rather than symbolic) competencies. For it is only in the transformative potential of embodied performances that identities are (re)produced. In considering such competence as contingent upon predispositions towards particular modes of action – that is, 'what a body can do' – I argue that Pierre Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus' offers a way of moving past the quotidian sociological emphasis on the symbolic and towards an engagement with youth cultural forms at the level of affect and emotion.


Wideband multipath measurements at 1300 MHz have been made in five factories in Indiana. The RMS delay spread ( sigma ) values were found to range between 30 ns and 300 ns. Median sigma values were 96 ns for line-of-sight (LOS) paths along aisleways and 105 ns for obstructed paths across aisles. Delay spread values were not correlated with transmitter-receiver (T-R) separation, but were dependent on factory inventory, building construction materials, and factory topography. It is noted that such measurements are important for the development of wireless factory communication systems which are envisaged to provide high data rate links between mobile robots, automated machinery, personnel, and remote terminals in the factory of the future.<<ETX>>


SUMMARY The aim of this study is to report our experience in surgical treatment of unilateral and bilateral choanal atresia. We describe the endoscopic surgical technique for creation of neo-choanes and following repeating balloon dilation after surgery to stabilise the results. The study was carried out from December 2014 to December 2018, enrolling 46 patients who underwent surgery for choanal atresia at the Otolaryngology Unit of the Paediatric hospital Bambino Gesù: 17 with bilateral choanal atresia (Group A) and 29 with unilateral choanal atresia (Group B). All patients underwent transnasal endoscopic surgery. The incision of the mucosa was made with a cold and hot system (laser diode). The elimination of atresic plaque was possible thanks to the use of a drill; the calibration of the neo-choanes was carried out with the help of balloon dilation. No stent was used, and no patient underwent treatment with topical mitomycin. The first endoscopic follow-up was made 7 days after surgery with surgical curettage and a second balloon dilation 15 days after surgery to stabilise the new choanes. Further check-ups were suggested at 1 month after surgery and later based on individual progress. In group A, the average age for the first treatment was 10.4 days, and atresia was associated with other anomalies in 64% of cases. The therapeutic protocol led to a successful outcome in 82% of cases, with an average of 4.6 procedures per patient (range: 3-11). In group B, the average age for the first treatment was 36.6 months, association with other anomalies was 27% of cases and the prevalent side was the right (11:6). We obtained surgical success in 85.7% of cases and the average number of endoscopic dilations was 3.5 (range: 3-7). Transnasal endoscopic surgery is now considered the therapeutic gold-standard for both unilateral and bilateral atresia. Even if still used, post-surgery stenting can be avoided in our opinion; relapse is reduced with the use of balloon dilation, which, in our experience, is a valid aid in both primary atresia treatment and in cases of relapse.


A novel chemical planarization method was developed for silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). This method uses catalytically generated hydroxyl radicals (OH*) to oxidize the wafer surface. OH* are generated by the reductive decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the surface of the iron reference plate. An extremely flat surface without pits or scratches was obtained. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that the planarized surface had an atomic step-terrace structure, in which the step height corresponded to a single bilayer of 4H-SiC and GaN. Low electron energy diffraction (LEED) and cathodeluminescence spectroscopy showed that there was no crystallographic damage on the planarized surface.


As ways of making meaning in drama strongly resemble the ways that meanings are made in everyday social life, forms of drama learn from everyday life and, at a societal level, people in everyday life learn from drama. Through history, from the emergence of drama in Western culture, the learning that results at a societal level from the interactions of everyday social life and drama have been noted by scholars. In contemporary culture, electronic and digitized forms of mediation and communication have diversified its content and massively expanded its audiences. Although there are reciprocal relations between everyday life and drama, aspects of everyday life are selected and shaped into the various cultural forms of drama. Processes of selection and shaping crystallize significant aspects of everyday social relations, allowing audiences of and participants in drama to learn and to reflect critically on particular facets of social life. In the 20th century, psychological theories of learning have been developed, taking note of the sociocultural relationships between drama, play, and learning. Learning in and through drama is seen as being socially organized, whole person learning that mobilizes and integrates the bodies and minds of learners. Making signs and meanings through various forms of drama, it is interactive, experiential learning that is semiotically mediated via physical activity. Alongside the various forms of drama that circulate in wider culture, sociocultural theories of learning have also influenced drama pedagogies in schools. In the later part of the 20th century and into the 21st century, drama practices have diversified and been applied as a means of learning in a range of community- and theater-based contexts outside of schooling. Practices in drama education and applied drama and theater, particularly since the late 20th century and into the early 21st century, have been increasingly supported by research employing a range of methods, qualitative, quantitative, and experimental.


A couple of years ago several European universities formed a network aimed at enhancing cooperation in international research. The first research focused on the outreach approach in social work. The term "outreach" is meant to describe certain methods which a social worker uses in order to reach the most excluded clients (such as lonely elderly people, street children, etc.). The aim of the research is to investigate what moral dilemmas social workers encounter while using outreach method in their work. Researchers of 4 European universities (Utrecht, Berlin, Tartu, Vilnius) conducted 10 halfstructured interviews with social workers who use outreach taking as a base the same research questions; content analysis was applied for the data processing. Few moral dilemmas in using outreach were identified: to obey a rule or to break it (on behalf of a relationship with a client); to justify a client or to condemn; can help be compulsory; closeness or distance: should we "live the same life"; the interests of an institution or the ones of a client; to administer help or to really help All dilemmas articulated by social workers manifest an "inner contradiction" between their personalities and professional requirements. This inner contradiction is either enhanced or softened by the policy of the institution in which a social worker works. The difference between Western and Eastern European countries have manifested mostly in this aspect: Western social workers feel more supported by their agencies. When solving moral dilemmas social workers of all countries tend to reserve personal values and professional ethics in a personal relationship, to be a representative of a client "" not of the institution. The results testify that social work practice is a moral practice and a social worker must be prepared that his/her own moral standard will constantly be challenged.